Vikings lose McCarthy but hold on to beat Giants for third straight win

The story of the day for the Vikings is that young quarterback J.J. McCarthy suffered yet another injury, cutting his ninth NFL start short at halftime. Just before the first half ended, McCarthy was blasted on a strip-sack defensive touchdown and suffered a hand injury, which resulted in him being ruled out and replaced by Max Brosmer.

As for the final result, which feels somewhat less significant, the Vikings held on for their third consecutive win over an NFC East opponent and won 16-13 over the Giants at MetLife Stadium. They're now 7-8, with the Giants falling to 2-13 on the season.

Brosmer didn't need to do a whole lot in the second half, leading one scoring drive that made the difference in the outcome. He was 7 of 9 for 52 yards passing. Aaron Jones ran 21 times for 85 yards and sealed the win with a first down after the two-minute warning. And Justin Jefferson had his best game in a long time with 6 catches for 85 yards, which puts him 83 yards away from 1,000 with two games to play.

Brian Flores' defense led the way in this one, making life miserable for Giants rookie Jaxson Dart (7/13 for 33 yards and a pick). The Giants were held to 141 total yards, averaging less than 3 yards per play. And five different Vikings defenders recorded sacks on the afternoon.

Before getting injured, McCarthy scored the only offensive touchdown in the game and played better than the numbers would indicate. On the Vikings' opening drive, he threw a dime to Jordan Addison in the end zone despite having pressure from Dexter Lawrence in his face. But instead of a 25-yard touchdown, Addison couldn't complete the process of the catch for a brutal drop. The Vikings had to settle for a field goal (the first of three on the day by Will Reichard).

Jefferson also had a drop on the Vikings' second offensive possession. And later in that series, a Jalen Nailor drop landed in the arms of a Giants defensive back for McCarthy's one interception on the day, the 12th of his career.

McCarthy was 9/14 for 108 yards and a pick, and three of those incompletions were flat-out drops. He made some high-quality throws. Just before the two-minute warning, he ran for an impressive 12-yard touchdown — his fourth rushing score in nine games.

JJ MCCARTHY SCRAMBLES FOR THE TD

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But he also flirted with disaster once in the second quarter and actually found it a second time. With around 6 minutes left in the half, McCarthy threw a bit high and a bit hot for Nailor, and the ball deflected off his hands for what looked like a 96-yard pick-six from Jevon Holland. Luckily for the Vikings, the play came back due to an offsides call.

Then, in the final 30 seconds of the half, with the Vikings leading 13-3, a screen call turned into a nightmare scenario in more ways than one. Brian Burns came unblocked off the edge and blasted McCarthy, who lost the football. Tyler Nubin scooped it up and scored for the Giants. More significantly, that was the final play of the game for McCarthy, who was ruled out for the rest of the day with a hand injury.

BRIAN BURNS STRIP SACK TURNS INTO GIANTS TD

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The Giants tied the game at 13 early in the fourth quarter, but Brosmer led a go-ahead field goal drive with around 4 minutes left, and the Vikings' defense came up with a big stop to help seal it.

Next up: Vikings vs. Lions on Thursday, Christmas Day, on Netflix.